The Single-Electron-Box and the Helicity Modulus of an inverse square XY-Model

We calculate the average number of electrons on a metallic single-electron-box as a function of the gate voltage for arbitrary values of the tunneling conductance. In the vicinity of the plateaus the problem is equivalent to calculating the helicity modulus of a classical inverse square XY-model in one dimension. By a combination of perturbation theory, a two-loop renormalization group calculation and a Monte-Carlo simulation in the intermediate regime we provide a complete description of the smearing of the Coulomb staircase at zero temperature with increasing conductance.